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“L-Lahela, I can undress myself!” you protest, as she puts you and Akane beside the edge of the hot springs.

“Nonssensse! Yous are hurt more than me!” she responds and just starts to casually take off the clothing. “I’m helpingss!”

You are nose-deep in the water, already red like a lobster, as Lahela moves onto Akane, and the exchange of words… well, they could be from many different types of manga you’ve read.

“Sstay sstill!”

“NO! Don’t touch me!”

“I have to sso I can undresss you!”

“I said NO! AAAAAAAAAAAA”

Akane is put in the water as well, and now both you and her just sit beside each other, half of your face beneath the water as you feel weird and fuzzy. Lahela doesn’t make it any easier for you as she casually enters the hot spring without any shame of nudity, everything in display.

Akane especially at this point just tips over and you have to help her not drown.

Finally, all three of you are nicely in the water, and even Akane can get a break. Funny, you never imagined Lahela would get such a reaction out of her.

“You’ve gotten strong, Akane-san,” you break the metaphorical ice. “You mentioned it’s a Fullbring?”

Akane nods, and looks down at the dragonfly necklace still around her neck. “It’s all thanks to you, Koharu. I didn’t realize before just what kind of a gift you had given me.”

“Neither did I to be honest,” you scratch the back of your hair. “I’m not really sure how it all works either.”

“My master helped me out with it. Apparently fullbring abilities come out when people imprint strong emotions and spiritual power into important items.” Akane grins. “He almost killed me once or twice while I tried to figure it out, but it all paid off in the end!”

You are about to ask about that, when Lahela moves closer and closer to Akane, flustering her.

“W-What?”

“It feelss hollow,” Lahela blinks. “Your powerss, when we foughtss, they felt hollow...like.”

“I’m definitely no hollow,” Akane shakes her head and crosses her arms in front of her. “Far from it, I bash their skulls in.”

“Akane…”

“Oh, right. No offense.”

“None takenss,” Lahela closes her own eyes and goes back to her spot.

“Still, you’ve gotten quite powerful yourself, Koharu. Those powers, they’re really something. And Lahela’s above any hollow I’ve ever met. It still kinda creeps me out that I’m sharing a bath with one actually..”

“Life is full of surprises,” you wink.

>2/2

>”You mentioned a master, Akane? Another fullbringer?”
>”Lahela, can you elaborate on that? Hollow-like how?”
>Other?

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Welcome to a new thread of Advent Soul Quest!

>What is this?
A quest based on the setting of Bleach. Deviation from canon depends on the MC’s influence, and some other additions are to be expected as well.
>Who are we?
Nakashiri Koharu, a former 10th grade (high schooler) trap, now a 3rd seat officer in Aizen’s 5th Division, under a spy mission from Urahara.
>When are we?
Currently it is Spring 1985, ~16 years prior to the events of canon.
>Dice? Challenge?
Prompted after deciding on an action. Usually 3d10, best of 3 (Bo3), against a set DC and sometimes a crit-DC. Write-ins may affect the DC as well. If a character stat (in the char sheet) is directly related to the action, it will substitute the lowest die in rolls if it is higher (will be always explained when prompted to roll).
>Updates?
So far it’s been 20 minutes per post at best. Generally I promise an update per hour at the very least. I post whenever I start writing, or if I’m held up for some reason. My timezone is UTC+3 (summer time).
>I have questions!
Ask away and I’ll do my best to answer! You can also address questions to characters, which I’ll answer in-character!
>What do?
Have fun, vote on what feels the best, roll some dice and chill.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/QmTrippy
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=advent+soul+quest
Char Sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DQUOuJbOgzrjIKQLjMFxdmsQh3WIKMMFJQ8fO5-biYM/edit?usp=sharing
Social Links: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HXWo1bA7rplcTIJSkE850qzEE55b-W36tuL_qtT0b00/edit?usp=sharing
Character Questions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S1RrQ6icjeWSV2MIb6EUwuZjzGx0QvuFjoxB1bN_tlU/edit?usp=sharing

>>4729083
>”You mentioned a master, Akane? Another fullbringer?”
>”Lahela, can you elaborate on that? Hollow-like how?”

>>4729083
>”You mentioned a master, Akane? Another fullbringer?”
>”Lahela, can you elaborate on that? Hollow-like how?”

We should be able to connect the dots that her master is our dad right?

>>4729119
Pretty much. It's more or less a question of whether you want to poke her about it and learn that it was Koharu's dad that might've almost killed her.

>>4729122
Urahara did something similar to us so we could shrug it off a standard procedure mostly except for giving dad an earful the next time we see him
>>4729088
>”You mentioned a master, Akane? Another fullbringer?”
>”Lahela, can you elaborate on that? Hollow-like how?”
I'll go with this for now though

>>4729104
>>4729112
>>4729133
>Writing

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“You mentioned a master, Akane?” you ask, your body finally relaxing in the water. “Where’d you find another fullbringer?”

“You won’t believe me, but he appeared at the roof of our school one day. I was suspicious at first, but… I was sort of desperate for the power to protect others, to protect Chie-chan. I didn’t want the same thing that happened to you to happen to anybody else.”

“I.. I understand that,” you shy your glance away. “And? Who is this guy?”

“He calls himself Yama-san. Always in a suit and with that cool lighter of his. He might be a hardass, but I think you’d like him!”

The gears in your head start turning, and you narrow your eyes, but let it be for now. If your suspicions are correct and it really is Moriyama Eizan, your father, then you have so many more questions.

You don’t press the topic further, despite the confused feelings of your father messing with your friends. You’ll have to find your dad and shout his ear off for, in Akane’s own words, ‘almost killing her once or twice.’

“Anyway! But what about you?” Akane points at you and then Lahela. “How in the hell did you befriend a hollow? Let alone turn her… human?”

You and Lahela exchange glances, and you nod to her, letting her retell the story.

“It wassn’t really voluntary, butss…”

She goes over the whole deal, with how you forced her mask into the shape of a sword, and helped her figure out the afterlife in her new form.

“Koharu iss my firsst true friend. I will protect Koharu with myss life!”

You blink and blush just so slightly, and you can see Akane is taken aback by this. She looks conflicted, but after a few seconds her expression relents into a smile, and her hands relax. “Well, I guess that makes two of us then, huh?”

>1/3

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With time, the water rejuvenates you, healing wounds and restoring your energy. Lahela is quite surprised by this, and even drinks it somewhat. You do stop her from emptying the pools, especially since the idea of drinking bathing water just grosses you out.

“Lahela?” you call out to her, and give Akane a quick glance. Whispering to her, you tell her to stand up.

“What? Like thiss?”

As she does stand up, you can see Akane’s face redden, and quickly turn away, confirming your suspicions. “Hooh?~”

“Come back down. I actually wanted to ask you something else. What did you mean that Akane’s fullbring felt hollow-like?”

“Y-YOU DID THAT INTENTIONALLY?!” Akane lashes out as she realizes it, and you just poke out your tongue. Lahela in turn, doesn’t understand what’s going on at all. The irony of the hollow being the innocent one, is not lost upon you.

“The reiatssu, it feelss hollow. Her abilitiess too, they remindss me of what Drianni can do, and what youss used that one timess.”

“You what now?” Akane asks, now more serious.

“I’ll tell you another time,” you shrug her off for now. “Well.. there’s no reason not to believe Lahela. I have no knowledge of how this fullbring power works anyway.”

“It’s pretty simple,” Akane waves her hand. “We distort the properties of spiritual matter. But for our true powers, it’s an expression of our willpower and desires.”

Well, that does kind of remind you of Zilya’s influence within you.

After some time, Jun is kind enough to bring towels for you. Amusingly, each one of you dries and redresses separately from each other.

>2/3

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“Tomorrow’s your birthday, you know,” Akane says as she takes the tea that Jun prepared for all of you. You’ve come back up and are now around the low table that you vaguely remember. “We’re gonna celebrate it, right? I won’t take no for an answer.”

“Ehhh,” you raise your hands. “Sure I guess?”

You haven’t really remembered it since going to the afterlife. People don’t celebrate birthdays there, instead they go by the day they spirited away to Soul Society.

A… rebirthday?

“You ‘guess?’ Come on, where’s your excitement! You’re finally back home, we need to go all out! So, what do you wanna do?”

You look at your cup of tea, deep in thought.

>3/3

>Go for a picnic, enjoy outdoor life, watch people… live their lives.
>An amusement park. You never went there before, now that you think about it.
>Other?

I realized that Akane actually doesn't even KNOW that her master is Koharu's dad

>>4729217
>Go for a picnic, enjoy outdoor life, watch people… live their lives.

>>4729217
>An amusement park. You never went there before, now that you think about it.

>>4729217
>An amusement park. You never went there before, now that you think about it.

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>>4729224
>>4729225
>>4729249
Amusement park, huh. That's going to be fun.
Of course nothing bad will happen, why do you ask?
>Writing
>Small pancake break as well, friend made some

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And so the day ends and your nocturnal duties commence. Lahela keeps you company throughout the night as well. Disposing of hollows, sending stray plusses to Soul Society, it’s all rather trivial with your senses and the combined firepower.

You feel like you work surprisingly well together.

Throughout the night however, you feel this light uneasiness. Like something is lurking somewhere, yet it’s able to hide even from you.

>The next day

You and Lahela stand at the gardens near the entrance to Hirakata park, one of the oldest ones in the area. It’s beside the Yodo river, overlooking it from the southern side. The park itself is situated halfway between Osaka and Kyoto, sharing a good amount of customers from both cities.

As you enjoy the scenery, Lahela in the meantime is too busy eating ice cream for the first time in her life.

“Thiss sstuff is amazing!” she exclaims. “H-Humanss eat this every day?!”

“Well, not every day you know, just sometimes. Especially in the summer. I’m surprised they’re selling it this early in the year.”

You watch Lahela with both amusement and a certain kind of joy. You were just like her when you first moved out of Nara. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling the world for the first time. Trying everything out after leaving your confines. Lahela, she never lived anywhere but the Wailing Forest. Or at least she never left it for who knows how many years.

You then become aware of Akane’s reiatsu coming closer, and with some concentration you can also make out Chie’s. Your heart begins to beat harder, and you feel nervous again. Sure, you saw Chie earlier, but that was somewhat of a farce on your part. Now she would actually see you.

“You okayss?” Lahela asks, noticing your change in tone.

“Y-Yeah. Just mentally preparing to see a very good friend of mine again,” you smile.

And so Lahela distracts you enough that the two girls arrive without notice, and you can hear her gentle voice.

“K-Koharu…? Is.. is it really you?”

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Unfortunately I have to stop here. Just got news that my grandma’s been taken to the hospital, and that’s in the neighboring country. Not that I can do anything, but I don’t think I can continue with this mental state.

We’ll continue tomorrow at same time, so 15:00 UTC, unless something happens.

Sorry guys, and fuck this pandemic.

>>4729320
I hope your grandmother gets better. By pure coincidence mine died this Friday, even bigger coincidence nine years ago died an Good Friday as well.

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>>4729364
I'm very sorry to hear that, anon. My condolences, and thank you.

>>4729320
Hope things go well, take as long as you need and stay strong

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>>4729320
Feels bad man

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We'll continue today as scheduled (in 2 hours), but it'll be slower paced, since I have a small meeting around the time and I need more time in general.

But at least we'll be able to move forward!

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There’s a moment where it feels like the world around you just fades away, when your eyes lock with Chie’s. Both of you first take slow steps towards each other, then larger and larger, until you run up to hug each other.

“I’m back,” you whisper beside her ear.

“I-I knew… I suspected,” Chie answers as her tears soak into your clothing on your shoulder.

“Akane-san told you then?”

“No… she was tight-lipped. But… y-yesterday… there was something… and I could just feel it in my heart.”

A few tears part from your eyes as you hear this. So your visit wasn’t a complete failure afterall.

“But how?” she asks. “I-I thought.. your body..”

“E-Eh, it’s a different one, but pretty close, isn’t it?” you laugh it off. You’re not sure how well she’d understand or take the full story just yet.

As you part the embrace and both Akane and Lahela come closer, you do the final introductions. Chie is oblivious to different types of ghosts, so she befriends Lahela quite quickly.

“You’re really back now, right? You’re back for good?” Chie looks at you with a happy face and gleaming eyes.

Akane too looks at you for an answer, but knowing things, you can see she’s nervous. Lahela just stands there awkwardly.

>”Actually.. this is only temporary. I have a duty now, to the afterlife.”
>”Y-Yeah. I’ll be very busy though, so much I need to do!”
>Other?

>>4730702
>”Actually.. this is only temporary. I have a duty now, to the afterlife.”

>”Actually.. this is only temporary. I have a duty now, to the afterlife.”
But I'll try my best to come back more often!

>>4730709
>>4730797
Quiet today it seems
>Writing

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“Actually… this is only temporary, Chie-chan…”

You can see the change in mood as her joy and hope slowly turn into sorrow and confusion. “E-Eh?”

“Chie-chan… I’m.. I’m still dead. This is but a doll that I inhabit to interact with your world.”

“T-This is your world too!” Chie protests. “Things.. things may have changed, but I never stopped believing in you!”

You stagger back, and lower your gaze, clenching your hands into fists. It’s not like you don’t want to come back, far from it.

“I have a duty now,” you raise your eyes again, “to the afterlife. But… at least I have the chance to visit. To come see your faces.”

Your eyes linger on Chie, and then Akane, and back to Chie. “Not for a second did I forget about you two. About our promise. Maybe I can’t come back for good… but at least I can try to visit as often as I can.”

Both Chie and Akane rush to hug you, and you exchange painful, but relieving tears. Lahela, unsure what to do, joins in, and in the end you all end up having amused giggles and laughs. Sometimes, one needs a little awkwardness to bring out the sunshine.

“Well, no point in brooding on your birthday of all days, right?!” Akane raises the spirits. “Come on, I got the tickets right here!”

And so you go enjoy the park attractions together.

>1/2

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There’s a lot of different things you try out. Alongside Lahela, there’s two of you who’ve never been to such a place before. Lahela is perhaps a little more enthusiastic about it all than you, and wants to try the most wild attractions.

You on the other hand, prefer the lighter, more comfortable ones.

After some initial rides, Akane goes with Lahela for the bigger ones, while you and Chie take a pause and eat some more ice cream.

“So you study human sciences now, huh?” you ask.

“H-How did you know?” Chie blinks.

“A-Ah, Akane told me, heh…”

“I want to become a teacher. There’s.. so many things I wish we had at our school, Koharu. Maybe I can bring those to some school.”

“Yeah? What would you have changed?” you ask, nomming on the waffle.

“Well… I’d make sure I really know my students, and.. make sure they can get everywhere.”

“I’m not sure I follow?”

Chie straightens her legs, and looks down at them, and that’s when you understand her. “They still swell from time to time… and I can walk again, but… that time, when I couldn’t, it was unbearable.”

You touch her hand on the table, as you can see her eyes glister for a moment, but she keeps the tears in. “No, no more tears! Today we celebrate your birthday! It’s a happy moment!”

You nod and smile, but you feel your eyes focus, for a brief moment, behind her and out where people are walking, and you see a weird-looking clown with a white face.

No, a jester.

Staring right at you.

You blink once, and he’s gone.

“Koharu?” Chie blinks, as she tilts her head just a bit to the side to block the view. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I think so?”

>2/2

>Continue on normally with the day, but stay on alert
>Excuse yourself for a moment, and look around
>Go elsewhere with Chie
>Other?

>>4730918
>Continue on normally with the day, but stay on alert
Can we check the area with our reiraku?

>>4730921
Yes, it is possible!

>>4730918
>Continue on normally with the day, but stay on alert
Reiraku scan

>>4730921
>>4730932
We'll go with this. Last update for today too.
>Writing
>No roll needed for various reasons

How is your grandma, trippy?

>>4730978
In the hospital, I don't know more than that unfortunately. Me and my brother tried to figure out a way to contact her, but it's very complicated, especially with us in Finland and her in Russia.

What can I say, hope for the best, prepare for the worst

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You cough a bit and then shake your head. “I’m fine, don’t worry. Anyway! Tell me more about your university! What’s it like?”

As she tells you about all that, you momentarily shift your focus to your sixth sense. There’s nothing particular that you can sense, although there is something akin to a foul smell in the air, but reiatsu instead of scent. Focusing further, you summon the spiritual ribbons of reiraku, and see the canopy of white ribbons around you and Chie.

Instantly, you make out Akane’s slightly red-tinted white ribbon, as well as Lahela’s black ribbon, but otherwise, there’s nothing out of the ordinary.

Until you notice something rather strange.

There’s a brief moment, where you can see a very narrow and weak stripe of black ribbon, merge with a white ribbon. After a few more minutes, another similar case.

And another.

“So… what’s the afterlife’s like?”

“W-What?” you snap back to reality.

“I guess I shouldn’t ask… but, I guess I’m kinda curious.”

You sigh as you tilt your head to look at the people walking by.

“To be honest, not that good. You’d imagine it to be peaceful, but in the end, it’s humanity’s worst aspects, but amplified.”

“R-Really? Wow… that’s.. that’s surprising.”

“I know. I was surprised too,” you sigh. “Maybe someday I can do something about it.”

“Wow… you sure changed, Koharu,” Chie smiles. “Not at all like the Koharu who barely wanted to do anything.”

“It’s because I couldn’t,” you nod. “Now I can.”

And as you say that, your eyes widen in horror as you see a disgusting pitch black, slug or leech crawl from behind Chie onto her shoulder.

“Koharu? Are you sure you’re alright?”

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And that’s where we’ll stop for this session. I’m sorry for its shortness, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Hopefully next time my mind won’t get dragged across dirt in the middle of running.

No updates for the sheets, but I’m happy to answer any comments or questions. Omake suggestions are welcome too!

It might take some time for the next session, but if things go well, we'll get back on weekends schedule-wise!

>>4731053
Hollow parasites?

>>4731060
Maybe. It sure looks like that, doesn't it?

This guy looks like bad news if he's going after random humans with impunity like this.

HADO 1: SHO FINGERLASER TO THE LEECH ASAP

>>4731405
Agreed. But maybe try to restrain and capture it? It's weird because it seems like the others can't even detect it

>>4732146
Not completely weird. Our reiatsu-sensing abilities are miles above most reapers, they’re probably crawling on/affecting spiritually unaware people like Chie, and the others may be distracted.

Now, if we blast this thing and still Lahela/Akane can’t see it still then I’d be worried.

Although thinking back on it, Drianni mentioned hollows shouldn’t be able to hide their reiatsu. Maybe whoever is spawning these things knows the trick.

And after typing that last bit out, I vaguely remember Zilya mentioning a jester/fool and learning how to create little spider babies from another hollow. Is this related, should we jump to Defcon 2 right now?

>>4732146
>it seems like the others can't even detect it
>>4732852
>and still Lahela/Akane can’t see it

I thought they'd split off and gone on rides while Koharu and Chie waited on a bench with ice cream or something.

And I don't want to take any chances on this thing infesting Chie so shoot first ask questions next time we spot one is my call. I doubt it's the last we'll be seeing of these things since they've probably been latching onto other random people at the park and mixing into their spirit-ribbons.

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>>4732852
>Is this related, should we jump to Defcon 2 right now?
The shoe fits close enough
(Also lategame bump before the 72hr permasage)

>>4732852
Well whatever they are they are bad juju. I'm still for trying to capture one but killing it is fine too. Hopefully Hat&Clogs can maybe gleam some information out of the residual spirit particles at the very least

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Hey guys, I finally have a schedule for you. Next session will be on Friday, 15:00 UTC! We'll continue from there on Saturday as well, and possibly on Sunday too, depending on where we are.

Until then, I wish you all a pleasant week!

>>4737608
Ah cool, I was going to ask for an ETA
>>4734802
Thinking about it more, Hado 1 doesn't really have much destructive power. It kind of just pushes things. I mean Rukia was on death's door and Byakuya wasn't worried about bonking her with it. So I think the worm might not die immediately from the force of the shove.

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Reminder: Tomorrow at 15:00 UTC we have our next session. See you there!
Also to confirm that I am still alive and well, albeit sleep deprived

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You are Nakashiri Koharu, and you’re at the Hirakata Amusement Park, enjoying a little cake with Chie-chan while Akane and Lahela have their fun with the more extreme attractions. There’s just one problem: A repulsive, slimy creature has just crawled up Chie’s shoulder.

Without a doubt, it’s a product of a hollow. But what exactly it is, you don’t know yet.

What you do know, is that you REALLY don’t appreciate it being on your bestie’s shoulder.

“Hadō #1: Shō,” you whisper while extending a finger forwards, and the bolt of pure force pushes the slimy creature off of Chie. She of course also feels this, but as a human with a physical body, it’s much less effective than against the purely spiritual creature.

“O-Ow, what was that?” Chie-chan blinks.

You look down on the floor at the barely moving thing. You can just and just sense it, but based on what you saw with reiraku, it must meld with the host’s reiatsu to disappear like the others did.

Shit, this is bad news. The leech doesn’t have a mask, meaning it can’t be a singular hollow. This thing, whatever it is, is part of a bigger threat.

“Hello? Koharu..? Y-You look so serious..?” Chie waves her hand, concern creeping onto her face.

>Tell her about the possible danger.
>Keep this to yourself for now.
>Other?

>>4749670
>Tell her about the possible danger.

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Welcome back anons for a new session. This time we start off with good news, as my grandma got out of the hospital! So I'm much more motivated now!

>>4749702
Good to hear

>>4749670
>Tell her about the possible danger.

>>4749694
>>4749755
Honesty wins
>Writing

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You don’t answer her immediately as you weigh the options, but in the end, you decide to tell her. It’s better she knows that something’s up.

“Something’s wrong in this place. A weird creature just tried to crawl on you.”

“C-Creature? W-What do you mean? I couldn’t feel anything..? Where is it now?”

You shake your head. “I don’t think you can feel it, let alone see it.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a ghost,” you finally spell it out for her. “Don’t panic.”

“Y-You can’t just say that and expect me not to!” Chie says as her eyes widen.

“As long as you’re with me, you’re safe. Now that I know what to look for, I can keep these things away from you. But whatever it is, I’ll have to investigate it, okay?”

“Investigate?”

“Like that ghost in the school basement, remember?” you nod.

“Like that.. ghost in the school basement,” Chie repeats quietly, and then finally nods in resolution. “I-I think I understand, Koharu!”

You nonchalantly move your chair a little to get closer to this black slimy creature. You can’t really get any more info out of it just by looking, but you don’t know if it’s wise to pick it up. It’s still moving, if just barely.

>Pick it up, see if you can’t figure something out.
>Better just destroy it and start looking for the source.
>Other?

>>4749823
Try to find out if it has a mind we can enter

>>4749832
Supporting this

>>4749832
>>4749844
That's an interesting one.
>Writing

Why pick it up when you can just stab it with your zanpakutō?

“Mediate, Naimen no Daiza,” you whisper as you draw the blade out of the gigai from your chest, releasing it at the same time. Fortunately everyone’s occupied with their own business to pay any attention to you. Not that they can see the sword.

You lightly prod the tip of the sword into the twitching creature, and let the blade attune to its reiatsu. It’s very weak and faint, you can just barely feel the consciousness with this specific reiatsu, but can’t access it. You also feel a tingling sensation at the back of your head, as Zilya’s presence seems to be quite amused by something.

“Y-You’re doing something, right?” Chie asks, to which you nod.

“Yeah. You can’t see it, but, I’ve.. got a tool. I’ll explain later.”

You might not be able to access this hollow’s mind, but now you have the means to find it.

“Seek Out Your Prey, Kaishigome,” you whisper again, and your zanpakutō transforms into the antler-shaped curved blade, accompanied by a light burst of green reiatsu. With the reiatsu attuned to the creature, you now can track other sources of it.

Question is, how to go about it?

>Go alone, tell Chie to stay here, away from danger.
>Take Chie with you, the safest place is next to you.
>Look for Akane and Lahela first, split into two parties. (Which?)
>Look for Akane and Lahela and go all together.
>Other?

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>>4749974
Fuck. I forgot the picture, can't delete the post anymore.

>>4749974
>Look for Akane and Lahela first, split into two parties. (Which?)
Chie and Akane, since they know each other

>>4749982
I'll second this

>>4749982
Supporting this too!

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>>4749982
>>4750005
>>4750016
Tag-team with Lahela is a go! Now let's see how well you do.
>Roll 3d10, Bo3, DC 24, crit 28, Mental (8) may replace lowest die
Yes, it's high. But you did succeed in find the secret solution.

Also, my stomach unfortunately is acting up... again. I REALLY hope it'll tone down, but just a heads up, I might have to take some breaks or in worst case, leave it be until tomorrow.

I just had to jinx it at the start, didn't I?

Rolled 10, 8, 8 = 26 (3d10)

>>4750061

Rolled 1, 7, 9 = 17 (3d10)

>>4750061

Rolled 1, 1, 2 = 4 (3d10)

>>4750061
No point in doing this but I'll do it anyway

>>4750073
O WAO
>>4750084
O WAO

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>>4750073
>26
Nice, anon!
>>4750077
>17(24)
Good roll too!
>>4750084
>4(11)
H-Holy crap. Good thing I don't do overriding critfails.

>Writing

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“Let’s go find Akane and Lahela, shall we?” you smile at Chie, as you figure out a way to fasten the released zanpakutō to your waist.

You quickly find the two athletic girls sitting at a bench with milkshakes in their hands.

“You callss thiss… chocolate? It’ss… it’ss amazing!”

“Ha! Ain’t that right?” Akane grins and lightly punches Lahela on the shoulder. You raise an eyebrow as you approach them.

“I swear, if you told me you were years-long friends, I would believe you in a heartbeat,” you smile.

“Chie-chan, Koharu!” Akane waves. “Back so soo- whoa there, what’s with the sword?”

“We’ve got hunting to do,” you say quietly enough. “Something’s out here.”

“What do you mean?” Akane narrows her eyes. “I can’t sense anything.”

Lahela blinks a few times, and you feel her reiatsu flare up very sharply and for the briefest moment. “There’ss ssomething, Koharu iss right.”

“You.. you can sense something?”

“Very weakly, but yess!”

“Okay. I guess that settles it, we’ll go find this thing, whatever it is, with Lahela. Akane, could you look over Chie-chan and our bodies?”

Akane stares at you, her expression changing just so subtly. You can see she’s trying to hide her disappointment, but not well enough from you. “I could help you out.”

“I’d love that, Akane, believe me,” you say with understanding, but also a degree of sterness. “But this thing… or rather a part of it, almost got to Chie-chan. It’s not that I don’t want you with me, it’s that I want you and Chie to be safe. None of us can stay alone.”

Akane looks hard at you, but then shifts her gaze towards Chie, and you can see again a subtle change in her expression. Softness in her eyes, which she quickly hides by closing them.

“Right. I’ll keep us safe then.”

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We’ll pause here for tonight, and continue tomorrow starting at the same time, 15:00 UTC.

My bad for the shortness, but I hope I’m able to keep the quality up. Roll results will be resolved tomorrow.

Good night!

>>4750249
Thanks for running! Excited to see what happens tomorrow

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You brief them both on the situation and to watch out for black slug-like leeches, and leave your and Lahela’s gigais with them in a more secluded part of the park.

“They’re very subtle,” you explain. “Hard to sense, so keep your eyes open. Once they meld with the host, even I can’t distinguish their reiatsu.”

And with that you leave with Lahela, using Kaishigome’s ability to track reiatsu even as obscured as this one. You feel a sense of excitement in a way, despite that a hollow like this is very dangerous. So far it’s only been training after training, with some minor tasks in between the swamp of bureaucracy. Finally you can make a proper difference.

Along with Lahela, you manage to find many of these leeches that would normally be impossible to sense. At least it confirms it to you that they are all of the same hollow, as otherwise Kaishigome wouldn’t lead you to them. One by one, you remove them and incinerate them, until one of the scents leads you towards a small maintenance building. Nodding to each other, you and Lahela force the door open.

“Water?” Lahela asks as she pokes the humming machinery in there.

“It’s the system that controls the water pools and stuff at the park,” you guess.

“Humanss are sso interessting nowadayss. Sso many new thingss!”

You smile with a nod. “I can understand how you feel, Lahela. Soul Society is centuries behind the living realm as well. Maybe.. maybe one day I’ll change that.”

You find a sealed metallic trapdoor, and have Lahela break it open. The reiatsu is clearly coming from down there, and both of you jump in.

The smell of stale water and damp moss greets you, along with the sound of flowing water along tubes attached to the walls. Fortunately it’s not too narrow that both you and Lahela couldn't fit, but this is anything but a good place to fight.

And then you properly sense the hollow. It’s somewhere in here, moving, lurking. With your eyes adjusting to the dim light, you see these leeches again. On the floor, walls, and ceiling.

A lot of them.

>Keep going, pursue the lead.
>See if you can’t lure the hollow to you. (How?)
>Other?

>>4751917
>>Keep going, pursue the lead.
>>But get ready incase of an ambush
Can’t think of a way to get Mr. Leech to us so I’ll just vote to walk into the trap on guard

>>4751917
Plus one for >>4751924

Rolled 7, 9, 2 + 4 = 22 (3d10 + 4)

>>4751924
>>4751930
Slowly but cautiously.
>Roll 3d10, Bo3, DC 19, crit 26, Mobility (5) may replace lowest die
Also rolling for Lahela

Rolled 7, 9, 10 = 26 (3d10)

>>4751946

>>4751955
WHOOHOO

Rolled 1, 10, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>4751946

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>>4751955
>>4751961
D-Damn. Good job anon!

>>4751955
>26
>>4751965
>18(22)
One more roll to see if you get another crit for that sweet stat upgrade.

Lahela passes with a 20.

Rolled 10, 4, 8 = 22 (3d10)

>>4751946
Obliging the last roll.

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>>4751982
>22(23)
Good roll!
>Writing now that I've gotten myself a refreshment

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“Be careful,” you whisper to Lahela, and close your eyes for a moment as you reach for Celaris’ power, currently residing within Kaishigome. As you open them, your senses go dark, leaving only your reikaku, which begins to bleed over into the others as part of your Senzen technique.

The leeches are very faint, almost blending into the background reiatsu, but at least you can use your sight to pinpoint them, easier than with reikaku alone. Sticking close to each other, you navigate further into the tunnels, being sure not to disturb the leeches. Intuition tells you that there must be more to them than meets the eye, else they wouldn’t just be lying around here.

It’s after a few turns that things start to happen. Lahela steps too close to one of the leeches, and it deflates, filling the air with a weird gas.

“Koharu..!” Lahela exclaims as she flings herself away from the gas. Unfortunately, the first one triggers a chain reaction, and very quickly all of the leeches empty themselves, pushing more gas into these narrow tunnels.

“Whatever you do, don’t inhale that,” you tell Lahela as you pull her away, and both of you flash step with your own respective techniques through the corridors. “The gas is filled with this hollow’s reiatsu. It can’t be good.”

Fortunately, both of you manage to get out of the gaseous area, but it’s only a matter of time before it spreads throughout this place. As long as no more of those leeches deflate, you think you’re fine.

However, as you catch your breath, you can feel the looming presence of this hollow and turn around to face behind you…

>1/2

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Your vision with Senzen is very different, but you can still see the shape of this hollow. A long, giant centipede, just the right size to go through these corridors. A white mask adrons its head with many mandibles. Along its whole body, you can feel those slimy leeches covering it from head to end. Either they’re feeding on the hollow, or they’re growing out of it.

Gross regardless.

“Lahela… be ready,” you tap her, and she slowly moves her hand towards her blade. You can sense that she’s whispering to you, but without your hearing or looking at her directly, you can’t make out what she says.

You are interrupted as the hollow screams, and you can see waves of reiatsu bounce and echo from the walls. You are able to avoid the sonic attack because of Senzen, but Lahela doesn’t have that advantage. The centipede hollow charges towards you two, and you swiftly take Lahela away with you with a flash step, buying just a bit more time so she can recover from that scream.

You’ve found your target, now you need to figure out how to deal with it.

Releasing Senzen, your senses return to you. “We’re at a disadvantage here,” you grit your teeth.

“I can’t releasse my ssword here, not enough sspace!”

“Then let’s blast this thing, like how we did in that fight with Akane!”

The two of you stop running and face back towards the pursuing centipede, and extend your hands.

“Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!”
“Cero!”

The burst of blue fire and red energy intermingle and head straight towards the centipede. You can’t dodge well in here, but that means neither can this creature. You can see and hear that there’s an impact, but once the light and dust settles, the hollow is nowhere to be seen. In its place, a thousand and more of those leeches, and a lot of green gas.

“S-Shit,” you curse as you realize that something is amiss.

You can’t tell where the hollow is either, the leeches distort the location of his reiatsu.

>2/2

>Time to get out. You can’t risk fighting in here.
>You have to finish the fight here. If it gets out, it might hurt civilians.
>Other?

Also, if you have thoughts or ideas on how exactly to fight this thing, write-ins are encouraged and may give you bonuses.

>>4752049
>You have to finish the fight here. If it gets out, it might hurt civilians.
Back to using Senzen to try and find the actual Hollow hiding between the leeches, if it works try to restrain it with a kido net

>>4752049
I’ll support >>4752054

>>4752049
>You have to finish the fight here. If it gets out, it might hurt civilians.
Which sucks, but we’ll roll with it.
I’d say switch to Jorogumo and try to hit the thing. It seems like it can dissolve into leeches, so we’ll need to stun it long enough for Lahela to get a solid hit in. Unless we know some kido for reatraining that have a good chance of locking it out of a form change, in which case we can try that first.

>>4752054
>>4752060
>>4752067
Staying down here and continuing with Senzen wins. Seek and destroy.
>Roll 3d10, Bo3, DC 21, crit 27, Mental (8) may replace lowest die
Lahela will follow your lead on this until there's a target to punch.

Rolled 2, 4, 4 = 10 (3d10)

>>4752105
Works for me!

Rolled 7, 1, 6 = 14 (3d10)

>>4752105

Rolled 8, 2, 3 = 13 (3d10)

>>4752105

>>4752105
>10(16)
>>4752117
>14(21)
>>4752136
>13(19)
Clutch save there.
>Writing

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>>4752116
>>4752142
And I fail at linking once again..

>>4752144
I mean, if we want to pretend my roll didn’t exist I’m okay with that...

>>4752305
Nonsense! All rolls are important and shall not be ignored!
Because I'm glad you participate

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“I-It’ss gone!”

“Probably not for long,” you shake your head and hold Kaishigome ready in your hands. “Sorry Lahela, we’ll have to keep fighting in here. We can’t risk the humans above.”

“I may not likess it, but I will followss you!”

You nod with a half-smile, before absolving your senses once more in favor of Senzen. You can see that the air is already faintly glowing with the hollow’s reiatsu, and it will most likely start affecting you and Lahela, but not yet. Finishing this off before it will is going to be extremely hard, but it’s not like you have a choice here.

You have your suspicions on how this hollow works, but you don’t want to make a false assumption at this point, Aizen taught you that well. Until you see the hollow’s method of disappearing and reappearing, you’ll expect everything.

The leeches now move a lot faster all around the place than before, and begin attempting to swarm you. Both you and Lahela dodge as much as you can, but in this confined space, you have to resort to striking them with your zanpakutō. More gas erupts into the air, urging both of you to cough, as you don’t get out of the cloud in time.

“Come on, come out!”

And on that cue, you can see the hollow’s reiatsu beginning to rise again. Many of the leeches pile together and form the large centipede form of the hollow, and it charges right at you at great speed.

“Let’s see how you deal with lightning then! Hadō #4: Byakurai!”

Blue lightning erupts through Kaishigome. Modified with Nekensaku, the lightning strikes true at the hollow who now screams in pain, something it did not do with your and Lahela’s combination attack.

Light’s flicker, and the walls and pipes start to dent as the hollow thrashes about. But as it gets closer, you finally see it.

A single slimy creature, with a mask fragment. Everything else is but a false continuation of it. This creature, it’s all made up of disposable copies… except for the masked one.

>1/3

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“Lahela, find and destroy the masked leech! The others are just copies!” you call out to her, and start charging more byakurai’s. You think it might be an effect of Nekensaku, that while the hollow is concentrated like that, it will aim for the root of the reiatsu, which incidentally is the original leech.

However, as you charge up more of them and Lahela rushes forwards with her fists, the hollow bursts and flings countless leeches towards you. Many you dodge, others you cut down, but some latch onto you.

The gas distracts you long enough that you start feeling woozy, and feel your reiryoku being sapped.

“Hadō #1,” you begin but cough in between, “Shō..!”

You keep removing them while you pursue the masked leech. So long as you don’t lose direct contact with it, you think you can follow it!

“Hadō #4: Byakurai!” you shout in pain, and fire the guided lightning towards it. Again, another leech gets in the way, and the pursuit continues.

“Stay.. still.. damn it!” you grit your teeth and fling lightning after lightning. It’s only with the help of Lahela, who darts past you, countless leeches on her, and essentially takes on ALL of the leeches in your way.

Finally, the last byakurai erupts from your fingers, crackles past Lahela, and hits the right leech.

However, something you did not expect happens.

Even though your other senses are shut down, you can still feel a burning sensation as you are engulfed in fire.

You scream out in pain.

Senzen falls apart, and your senses come back to you, and you feel yourself trembling and on the ground. You quickly forget about your own injuries and weakness, as you see Lahela beside you, burned even worse than you.

“La.. Lahela!” you shout, crawling closer to her. “No, no, no!”

She had all the leeches on her, and if that masked bugger was the trigger to exploding this thing…

“W-What have I done?”

>2/3

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“Now THAT’S a fine question you got there!”

You shakily point Kaishigome towards the source of the voice, and find the weird jester from before standing there, his hands up in the air as your blade touches the tip of his nose.

“W-W-Well, let’s not be hasty here now, shall we?”

“W-Who are you?!”

“Nobody important! Just a lad with curiosity the size of an elephant!”

You blink once, and the jester disappears from in front of you and stands… on the ceiling?

“You seem to be in quite the predicament there, young one! That one ESPECIALLY looks hurt, ow!”

“Y-You’re not going to fight me?” you narrow your eyes, and your shaky arm drops down, zanpakutō clattering against the floor.

“Now that’d wouldn’t be very entertaining, would it?” the jester says with a mocking voice. You decide to ignore him for just a moment as you take a better look at Lahela. Fortunately her iron skin, Hierro, absorbed a lot of the blast, but she still has severe burn marks, and she’s unconscious. You're not in a good shape either, and almost out of energy.

What a predicament…

>3/3

>”Are you responsible for this?!”
>”What are you up to?! Surely you’re not just here for laughs?!”
>”...I need help.”
>Other?

>>4752355
>>”What are you up to?! Surely you’re not just here for laughs?!”

>>4752355
>”...I need help.”

>>4752355
>”...I need help.”

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>>4752361
>>4752377
>>4752392
Now THIS is going to be interesting.
>Writing

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You try to stay calm and rational, but the more you look at Lahela and yourself, the more you know that this is not a good situation. Your wounds don’t feel that bad for some reason, but as you attempt to use healing kidō, you are hit with the harsh reality.

“...I need help,” you say through grit teeth.

“Oh no, the little reaper is desperate… such a tragedy!”

You don’t answer him, instead you continue to weakly heal Lahela, with little effect.

“But I’spose there’s something that could be bargained for, right, puppet of two masters?”

Your heart sinks for a brief moment. “Who.. who are you?”

“I’m the jester!” he cheerily says as he disappears from the ceiling and walks around from behind you. “Just hear me out… you really do need that help, don’t you?”

You stare at him with frustration and anger. “I wouldn’t be asking otherwise. Clearly if you were here to kill me, you would’ve done so already. I doubt you’re here to just mock me either. Your agenda lies elsewhere.”

“TADAA! Correct! What a perceptive little puppet!” the jester claps his hands and hops lightly in the air in a clowny dance, after which he extends the scepter he holds in his hand towards you. “So how ‘bout a lil’ deal, then? Ya got nothin’ to lose, do ya?”

“...What do you want?”

“NOTHING!” the Jester extends his arms to the sides, and begins laughing maniacally. “Nothing YET to be precise!”

“Spit it out, jester!”

“I’ll cut to the chase, then, little reaper. Shake my lil’ hand, and I’ll come by sometimes, maybe ask ya to do some teeny-weeny things for me! Oh don’t worry, it won’t by any worse than what those two children haven’t already put you up to. So whaddoya say?! It’s the deal of a lifetime!”

You’re really getting a bad feeling about this. But then again, you’re in a bad shape, and Lahela’s incapacitated.

>Agree
>Decline

>>4752464
>Agree
But I think the bigger question is
>Do we use Hanran while shaking his hand?

>>4752464
>>Agree

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>>4752496
>>4752529
>Writing

>>4752496
Looks like the question will remain unanswered for now

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“I…”

“Yes?”

“I-I…”

“HMMM?”

“I.. agree.”

"Ah good! The puppet can move despite its strings! You may become a real boy yet! YAHAHAHA!” the jester twirls in place, and then extends his hand for a handshake.

You reluctantly put it forward, and can feel at the back of your head a sensation as if somebody is screaming at you. Your hand touches the jester’s stone-cold hand, and you sense some sort of reiryoku transfer there, and yank it away. Looking at it, you see a comical jester face on it, which fades away rather quickly.

“And whabam! The contract is SIIIIIIGNED!” the jester says, and then whips out a large stack of papers out of thin air, and drops them beside you. “Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the terms and conditions, as they may apply!”

“Now, I’m a jester of my word!” he continues, and twirls his scepter around, and you can feel your energy coming back to you, and your wounds healing at a rapid pace. Lahela’s burn marks disappear in front of your eyes as well, and you can sense her reiryoku get restored.

“Well toodeloo’s then, maybe-not-a-puppet-afterall!”

And just like that, he disappears.

Without a trace.

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And that’s where we’ll end this session. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Character sheet and social link updates I COULD do now, but I could also wait till after next session for more stuff to update. What do you guys think?

Comments, questions and all that welcome as always, as are omake suggestions. Next session will hopefully be next weekend, unless something happens.

Good night anons!

>>4752683
I'm assuming that's Zilya screaming. If so, glad to know we can, in fact, drive her just as crazy as she does to us!

Social links/character sheet can wait until next session when we've seen more fallout from our choices here.Though thinking about it, should Zilya and Celaris also be on the Social Links sheet?

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>>4752718
>I'm assuming that's Zilya
Correct. She mentioned a jester before. She did not like him one bit.
>should Zilya and Celaris also be on the Social Links sheet?
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
This shall be remedied the next time the sheets are updated.

>>4752683
Thanks for the run Trippy, it was fun. BTL so far?
>>4752677
>more paperwork for Koharu
He just can’t catch a break

>>4752783
>BTL
A solid 6, maybe even 7. Could've been much higher had you failed a few rolls.
The possible future threat of the jester may just punch it up a notch.
>paperwork
Such is the life of the diligent trap

>>4752795
>Future threat of the jester
What do you mean, Trippy? He's clearly on the up-and-up.

>>4752807
That's why I said *possible*. The future is always in motion!
He is many things

>>4752795
Hey Trippy I’ve been wondering, what had you planned for Koharu back in the beginning of the quest for the other options at the first votes, like what would have rebel and bookworm Koharu been like? Also what about secret trap Koharu?

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>>4752819
That's a good question, I might have to get back on it later for more details. But essentially it was meant to decide Koharu's personality & interests, as well as general direction for strengths. Slacker & mangaka made you more social, bookworm would've boosted your mental faculties, and the rebel & music option would've made you more nimble. But really, the biggest thing it did was help me write a character with those things in mind and built on top of that.

This being my first ever quest and all, I tried to get me some tools early on so I could do well. I hope I did.

As for secret trap route would've made Koharu present more girly and not like his boyish aspects as much.

Hope that answers the question!

Did you generally think we would go the SS route and become a shinigami, or were you expecting us to stick with being a priest(ess)?

>>4752893
While I favored the SS route because the Urahara-Aizen agent thing sounded interesting, I kept plans for sticking to the living realm as well Tenjiso shenanigans.

Urahara would've given you a chance to get a zanpakuto too, but even if that wasn't chosen, Celaris' and Zilya's powers would've manifested as fullbrings.

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>>4752872
>a more girly Koharu
Oh my
>I hope I did.
I’d say you did, the characterization has been great and the story’s been great. Those moments where Koharu’s just doing relatively normal stuff are pretty great.
I got some other questions, would rebel & music Koharu have been a delinquent and would the galpals have been a constant set of friends for the three options?

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>>4752911
>I'd say you did
A-Arigato, that really brings me relief.
>would rebel/music have been a delinquent
Sort of, yeah. The Koharu we have doesn't like rules forced on him, at least ones that he doesn't understand or approve of, but rebel Koharu would've gone out of his way to oppose such things even more.

The two galpals were a constant for all options, yeah. Their exact characteristics would've probably varied a bit, but they'd mostly stay the same. I didn't have a clear picture for them at that point when those decisions were made, they got sculpted as the story progressed

Koharu and the general paths the story could take were the things I had worked on and laid out for about a year prior to starting ASQ, but so much stuff has come to me only after I actually started writing stuff.

>>4752939
Have we done anything with Koharu's characterization that has surprised you so far? Any characters that turned out differently than you thought initially?

Not going the secret trap route still hurts me, I thought it would've been interesting to see

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>>4753037
>Have we done anything with Koharu's characterization that has surprised you so far?
One thing stands out the most for me at least, and it's the way Koharu is intent on bettering his surroundings, especially for those he considers family and friends, but also strangers to some degree. This really plays well into your dynamics with Aizen too, with the revolution vs reform duality. That's definitely not something I expected, but I'm quite happy with it, so good job!

>Any characters that turned out differently than you thought initially?
That's a trickier question. I didn't intend Mayuri to act like a 4channer, but here we are. Asato has changed from where we started, especially after you asked him to help with mediating hollows and subsequently killing them. Eizan's core characteristics shaped up only after I introduced him. Drianni probably surprises me the most, because I didn't flesh her out that well at first, but your interactions and discussions helped me with that too.

Yes, every discussion I see here really does help and impacts how I go about doing things.

>>4753339
It would've been pretty fun, that's for sure. But I do like the Koharu we have, because of how well he can tease others *because* he's semi-open about it.

Maybe an alter-reality omake will be written about it someday

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Hey guys, finally got some news. Next session will be this Sunday, 15:00 UTC. Some stuff fucked up my schedule, which is why Friday & Saturday are off the table. I might be able to continue onto Monday after that, but I still need to confirm that.

See you then!

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You are Nakashiri Koharu, and you’ve just been through your weirdest experience yet.

>https://audius.co/qmtrippy/01-on-the-precipice-of-defeat-93772

Here you sit, with an unconscious Lahela beside you and a stack of papers slowly getting damper beside you. A weird jester, with a pale white face, not unlike a mask, yet not exactly like one either, offered you help in exchange for… something in the future.

Both you and Lahela had been hurt very badly by the exploding fumes of that leech swarm hollow that you defeated together. The situation looked bad, and that’s when this mysterious jester decided to show himself.

What terrified you the most, is that you couldn’t sense him. At all.

Not only that, but even with his cryptic talking, he made it quite clear that he knew much about you. For all intents and purposes he could’ve killed you right then and there, but instead, he offered that deal of his. A jester brand was put on your palm, but has disappeared since.

You look around, seeing the lightly damaged corridor and bent pipes, a few water leaks and a few broken lights, but nothing bad. The physical world resists changes imposed by the world of the dead, but not completely.

There’s no immediate danger, but your friends surely are waiting for you, and Lahela is still unconscious. On the other hand, you can still feel an angry presence at the back of your head: Zilya. She clearly wants to shout your ear off.

Then again, there’s that stack of papers the jester left, the terms and conditions of this ‘deal,’ and holy shit is it a thick stack.

>You better take Lahela to her gigai and get the hell out of here, together.
>Rest together, wait until Lahela wakes up, perform Jinzen and face Zilya.
>Let Lahela rest, while you look through the papers.
>Other?

>>4769002
>Rest together, wait until Lahela wakes up, perform Jinzen and face Zilya.

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>>4769033
Just you 'n me then, fren!
>Writing

>>4769096
We’ll trickle in gradually!

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“We better rest up,” you whisper as you gently brush over Lahela’s shoulder, and sit beside her, your zanpakutō in your lap. You close your eyes and focus on the blade, but even more just on your mind. For many, their inner world is made by their zanpakutō upon awakening it, but you’ve had that headspace even before. At least, that’s how you see it, since it existed before the asauchi became Naimen no Daiza.

Gently, your consciousness is pulled deeper inside, and as you reopen your eyes, you find yourself in the shinto-style pavilion (also known as azumaya), with Naimen no Daiza’s stone water basin in the middle.

You only get a moment of peace, before you sense the brewing storm above.

“You absolute moron, do you have ANY idea what you’ve done?!”

You turn calmly around, face to face with Zilya, who looks quite intimidating and angry right now, all of her extra limbs sprouting from her back and their sharp ends inches away from you.

“I’ve made you mad, so that’s a point for me at least.”

“Oh wow, aren’t YOU being funny. Do you want me to ruin that pretty face of yours?”

“Just calm down,” you say as you stand incredibly still, holding up your front.

“Oh I’m CALM compared to what I COULD be, boy. What the hell were you thinking?”

“Lahela could’ve died,” you say and muster as much sternness as you can.

“So?”

“That is not something I want.”

“I swear, you’ll be the death of me with your shitty liabilities. Do you have ANY idea of what you got us into?” Zilya crosses her arms and finally takes just a small step back, retreating her spidery limbs. You relax just a little bit, enough to breathe again.

“Surely I would’ve if you had actually told me everything back when I first asked, but noooo, you had to be stuck-up about it.”

“DON’T take that tone with ME,” Zilya growls. “You want to know more? Fine. I’ll enlighten you.”

>1/2

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“You better get used to him visiting you, and not just normally, no. Time will stop, you won’t be able to do anything but listen to him talking, and talk back. Might be a few seconds, might be years. Still think it’s funny?”

“So you made this kind of a deal with him before too?” you narrow your eyes, hiding your own nervousness upon hearing that.

“That’s beside the point now,” Zilya turns her head away, annoyed.

“So you did. Tell me, what did you bargain for? What was so important to you, that you made a deal with him?”

“SHUT UP!” Zilya outright dismisses you. “A better question is, what do YOU plan on doing about this mess?!”

At this point, you see from the corner of your eyes Celaris appear as well, leaning against one of the pillars holding the pavilion’s roof up.

“This Jester, he knows much more than he should, which can only mean he knows even more. By now, I’m already used to others using me for their own games as a pawn. If I can get something out of the clown to give me a chance to figure out a way to take back control of the strings attached to me, then it’s already worth it, even beyond saving somebody precious to me.”

Zilya looks perplexed at this, and for once, doesn’t have words ready to retort.

“That’s a good way to look at it. But I agree with the Spider, that you are too reckless. I too, have heard of this figure in the past, even encountered him once briefly. Everywhere he is mentioned, disaster follows.”

You frown. “Thanks for telling me about that beforehand,” you mumble.

“I’m curious too. What are you going to do about this?”

>2/2

>”For now, nothing. You want to see what he’s going to do first.”
>”He did something to me, right? We have Naimen no Daiza.”
>Other?

>>4769237
>”He did something to me, right? We have Naimen no Daiza.”

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>>4769152
Glad to have you aboard now anon, I do know a lot of anons arrive only later. I just gotta keep writing and hold rolls off for after that

>>4769237
>”He did something to me, right? We have Naimen no Daiza.”

>>4769259
>>4769266
>Writing
While you won't be messing with mediating yourself right now, I'll bring it up at other times as options.

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You take a moment to just breathe and think, glancing at both of your coexisting consciousnesses, and then at the water basin.

“We have Naimen no Daiza, right? Whatever he did to us, we can undo with it, don’t we?”

Celaris and Zilya look at each other, surprisingly without the usual venom.

“There’s no reason it shouldn’t be able to mediate me, no?”

“It’s… I don’t see any fault in your logic,” Celaris sighs. “But I don’t think it’s as simple as you think it is. If you mediate yourself, how will you stay in control of the change?”

You furrow your brows and bite your thumb. “Will either of you be able to control it?”

“You’re the king here, as much as I hate it,” Zilya puts her hands on her hips. “If I could, you wouldn’t exist.”

“That’s an encouraging thought. What about another person? I know that zanpakutō can be used by people other than the one they’re part of.”

“Do you REALLY want to give such control over you to anybody else, Koharu? After seeing what that tool is capable of?” Zil laughs. “I know you. Not even you would trust anybody with something like that.”

Celaris remains silent, but keenly observes you. She’s not wrong about it, despite you having good friends now. Allowing others to mediate your own mind, your own soul… who could you trust to do exactly what you want and nothing else?

“It’s not like I have much choice, if this Jester is really as bad as you’re saying he is. But this is something to consider for another time.”

>1/3

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You leave the two be as you return back, and just at the right time as Lahela is sitting upright and holding her head.

“Good, you’re awake,” you say with a smile as you open your eyes. “Are you alright?”

“What happenedss? An exxplossion?”

“Yeah. The hollow, it put the whole place ablaze. Turns out all those fumes were inflammatory.”

Lahela looks at you for a moment, then her own body. Many parts of her clothes are clearly burnt, yet she sees that there’s no injuries.

Before she can ask about it, you pick up the stack of papers and urge her to go now.

You meet up with your friends at the same spot you left them. Fortunately they are alright, but Akane does tell you that they got attacked by a bunch of those leeches while you were away. You give them the short version of it, but keep the whole thing about the Jester to yourself for now, handwaving the lack of injuries to you healing them. Both you and Lahela get into your gigais, and now you’re finally back to normal. At least, somewhat, you still feel exhausted from this ordeal.

The sun is already moving down towards the horizon, but there’s still enough of daylight left for some more time at the park. Akane and Chie especially drag you to one of the cafeterias nearby, and get you a whole cake for your birthday.

Naturally, they make it embarrassing for you by singing for you, something that Lahela eagerly joins in, despite not knowing the words or the tune, but it does make you happy.

“Nineteen, huh?” you say as you prepare to blow out the candles. “Feels like a lot more time passed than it has since that incident.”

Even though you enjoy the time with the girls, celebrating your birthday, chit-chatting, laughing, you still can’t shake off the unease and pressure of all the things put on your shoulders. And now, on top of that, you have to worry about Jester, but perhaps, just perhaps… he might unravel the threads you’ve tangled yourself up with.

>2/3

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After all that fun is had, you say goodbye to Chie-chan, who parts ways with you to go to the university campus.

“We’ll meet again soon, and without interruptions, I promise,” you smile to her.

“Uhhuh! I’m looking forward to that time, Koharu-chan. I.. I really missed you.”

“Well, let’s not get sentimental now! I’m back for quite a while at the very least,” you say, and watch as Akane steps beside Chie.

“I’ll ride with her ‘till she gets home, I’ll meet ya sometime later at the shop. You guys move a lot faster than me anyways.”

You raise an eyebrow, and Akane just so slightly moves her eyes away, sensing your intense attention.

“Right,” you smirk, “Off you go then. Make sure she gets home safe, like you did with me back then.”

“That I will do!” Akane gives a cheeky grin.

“Come on guys, I’m not a child anymore!” Chie protests. “But.. I really do appreciate it, Akane-san.”

“For you, any damn time,” Akane nods.

As you and Lahela take to the skies with your shunpo and sonido, Lahela chats you up.

“Humanss are sstrange, but sso incredible too. They are really good friendss.”

You nod. “The first ones I ever had.”

“Why doess Akane act sso differently withss Chie, than with youss?”

If you’d drink something, you would’ve choked. How to explain this to her…

>3/3

>”I’ve just been away for so long, she just needs time to get used to me again.”
>”You see, there exist these feelings beyond friendship too…”
>”Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
>Other?

>>4769439
>>”You see, there exist these feelings beyond friendship too…”

>>4769439
>”You see, there exist these feelings beyond friendship too…”

>>4769439
>>”You see, there exist these feelings beyond friendship too…”
Spaghetti, my favorite meal. Light sauce, lots of cheese.

We should make sure to throw in a caveat if Lahela presses on how to tell the difference between liking someone and loving them that she'll need to meet more people to really know. Once she's made as many friends as she cares to keep up with, she can examine her feelings with each, understand what she values most in a person, and know what she's willing to give in a relationship. At that point she'll know enough to pursue someone seriously, because she'll know if someone isn't right for her and she can dedicate more effort to figuring out if she's a good match for the other person as well.

>>4769439
>”You see, there exist these feelings beyond friendship too…

>>4769439
>>”You see, there exist these feelings beyond friendship too…”

>>”You see, there exist these feelings beyond friendship too…”

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>>4769462
>>4769476
>>4769478
>>4769493
>>4769499
>>4769506
>take a bathroom break
>come back
>all these votes
Welcome anons, welcome!
Today Lahela learns about love.
>Writing

>>4769529
Not gonna lie kinda suspecting there was some samefagging going on but the result won't chance either way

>>4769565
What an odd vote to samefag for though, I guess we’ll see if any of the 1-2 post ids stay

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>https://audius.co/qmtrippy/22-going-home-93789

“Well, Lahela, you see,” you say as both of you stop at a roof, just as the stars start to show in the dark sky.

“You understand friendship, right?”

“Yess?” Lahlea blinks, a little confused.

“You see, there exist these feelings beyond friendship too, when friends get even closer..”

Lahela tilts her head. “Theyss become even bigger friendss?”

You rub your forehead. How on earth did you end up in this situation? Considering you haven’t exactly reached such feelings yet yourself?

“Kind of,” you say as you try to find any experience to draw on. Many have given you love confessions, but only Hisashi really comes to mind, given how he’s gone about his feelings. The other memory is that of Lahela, especially when you entered her mind, and that doesn’t make this situation any easier.

“It’s this thing called love, Lahela. Caring about another person enough that you’d like to spend a lot of time with them, live with them, help them out,” you do your best to explain it.

“Drianni mentioned ssomething ssimilar, family!”

“It’s related, yes, but different” you nod. “That’s familial love, buuuuut there’s also, uh,” you fumble in your words, as you look at Lahela, then away, then again at her, and again away.

“It ssounds complicated,” Lahela tilts her head, her eyes fixed on you. “How do I know which iss which?”

You sigh, feeling your own heart beat somewhat stronger. “W-When you feel all that, but also… a need for intimacy, a need for the other’s touch, that’s a sign of such love.”

Lahela stares at you, and you can see cogs turn in her head. You can’t understand how she never feels embarrassment with anything, and you somewhat envy her, but then realize something more imminent.

“Y-You need to take time to figure it out though! It’s hard to know if you truly love someone or not, and whether they do so too. A slow approach is the key, before you take things to the next level, y-you know? Figure out if you’re a good match for the other?”

As you speak, Lahela takes a few steps closer, and places her hand on your cheek, still with the same expression as before.

“Need.. for another’ss touch..?”

>1/3

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Your face grows redder and redder.

“K-Koharu? Are youss okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m alright,” you say and gently take her hand with yours, to move it off your cheek, but don’t let go just yet. “I’m not exactly the best person to talk about this stuff, I haven’t figured out my own feelings yet. But… I see those around me, and I can make good guesses.”

Both of you continue your journey towards the dark, but now starry sky in relative silence. Something in Lahela’s demeanor has definitely changed, but it remains to be seen how it manifests in the end, and how it’ll affect your relationship with each other.

And then, your thoughts take you to Akane and Chie. They’ve spent at least three years without you around each other, graduated together. Somehow, it doesn’t even surprise you that they’re moving in such a direction. In hindsight, perhaps even Akane’s questions about your preferences back then were a way for her to try to understand her own feelings.

You arrive in the familiar alley that looks like a prime place for robbery, and stand in front of Urahara’s shop.

“Hope Akane gets back here safely, it’s pretty late,” you think out loud.

“Sshe sstrong.”

“You’re right, she is,” you smile, and slide open the door to the shop. Only a dim light is lit there, Jun is likely asleep. However, just in time, you dodge out of the way of a sharp weapon, onto the ground.

>2/3

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“W-What’s the big deal?!” you shout, as you see your first ever mentor, Urahara Kisuke, his cane going through the space where your head was. Huh, you could’ve sworn it was an actual blade coming at you.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Tamaki-san!” he says cheerfully, and opens his fan, putting it in front of his face. “With a very interesting friend too, apparently.”

“She’s with me,” you say and extend a hand towards Lahela, to stop her from attacking Kisuke right away. “You sure took your sweet time.”

“I have a lot of business to attend to, I can’t be in many places at once,” he gleefully laughs.

“Right,” you roll your eyes and get back up. “I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“My, you flatter me. I’m but a humble shop owner!”

“Humble my ass. Anyway, now that you’re here…”

“...We have a lot to discuss, right?” Kisuke finishes your sentence, lowering his head a tiny bit, making the shadow over his eyes even darker.

>3/3

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And that’s where we’re gonna pause for tonight, roomiee wants to eat together and do something before sleep. We’ll continue tomorrow at 15:00 UTC, same as always!

>>4769565
>>4769581
It's possible, samefagging usually happens though when two choices are getting pushed against each other, not sure what it would've accomplished here
Other than giving me (You)'s

>>4769633
Enjoy your night, Trippy!

General question for anons, should we mention Jester to Urahara, or keep that in reserve? He shouldn't be plotting against us since we're on the same side, but he's probably building contingencies in case we flip. Could be because of us joining the conspiracy, could be the SS finding out about us and doing something that makes us say "fuck it" and decide to burn them down independently. So sharing info with him isn't quite the freebie that sharing with Drianni, Akane, or Lahela is.

>>4769633
Night Trippy, thanks for the run
>>4769712
I’d rather not tell him or anyone else, this is one of those things that Koharu definitely shouldn’t tell his more sketchy “allies”, especially the ones who have contingency plans to deal with him. We should probably play it more paranoid when dealing with the clown

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You and Lahela get comfortable first, taking off your coats. It’s still some ways ‘till more Summer-like weather.

“Tessai-san is not here?” you ask.

“Yup,” Kisuke cheerfully answers as for once, he prepares some green tea for you all. You see him briefly pass Jun’s room too, sliding close the door to it.

“I swear, you can be so annoying with your answers. Where is he then?”

“Not here?”

“Do you want my info or not?” you pinch your nose.

“Another shop, business y’know. Why are you so tense, Koharu-san? Ain’t nothing bad gonna happen here!”

“Do you realize how cursed that statement is? Ugh, I swear!”

Kisuke’s eyes drift towards Lahela as he takes a seat beside the low table as well, having brought tea. “I’m very much eager to hear about your journey.”

“Something tells me you already know most of it,” you narrow your eyes.

“Humor me then!” Kisuke says and audibly sips on the tea, before promptly spilling a bit out due to burning his tongue. “Ow, ow, ow!”

You just sigh. His goofiness still surprises you, especially after years of no contact, but you do your best to remember that it’s all a tool to hide that scary intellect of his. “Where should I even begin..”

“Well, for starters, why is there an arrancar in my shop?” Kisuke says as you feel just a slight change in his reiatsu, as if sharpening into a blade, ready to slash.

(This choice is about everything that has happened, not just Lahela)
>Tell him everything
>Give him a vague generalized story
>Give him only bits and pieces, and to trust you on the rest
>Other?

I’ll put this out here already. I’d like to know just how much you want to tell Kisuke, whether you want to omit some parts, or emphasize something.

I'll be back around 16:00 UTC (so in 2h and 20min), something else came up that I have to deal with pretty much now.

>>4770990
>Tell him everything, but leave out your feelings about it
Don't want to make him suspect we aren't as loyal of an agent as he thinks we are.

>>4770990
Backing >>4771062

Also leave out Jester. Not thinking anything else is important enough to withhold outright.

Oh, if he insults Drianni or Lahela then hit him with a teacup. They’re sweet, unlike him.

>>4771080
>>4770990
Ah! Don’t mention our shinigami buds that have hollow abilities by name unless Kisuke does first. He probably knows them, but we shouldn’t be spilling our friend’s secrets since we know they’re not part of the conspiracy.

Koharu is trying to keep his friends out of all this cloak-and-dagger stuff when he can, right?

Okay, I'm back. Hopefully no more shite gets thrown at me.

>>4771062
>>4771080
>>4771101
So tell him generally the ins and outs, but keep information on friends away from his ears, especially hollow stuff. Gotcha.
>Writing

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>>4771119
One thing I want to make sure: Do you want to...
>Tell Urahara about your zanpakuto how it is
>Tell him the same thing you've told Aizen

>>4771146
>>Tell Urahara about your zanpakuto how it is
He most likely already figured some of it out

>>4771146
Hmm.... I'm not 100% sure why we spun it that way to begin with, other than to feed him wrong info for the sake of it. But I support consistency.

>Tell him the same thing you've told Aizen

I guess there's the possibility that someone could suppress one of our spirits thinking they've suppressed both, since we've said they're different aspects of the same entity?

>>4771168
Actually what did we tell Aizen? I don’t really remember

>>4771171
+1

>>4771172
Generally speaking, we had one shinigami spirit with two halves, one male, one female. And the personalities of each are basically the personalities of Zilya and Celaris.

So we're basically hiding that we have two spirits instead of one. For people who know our background, they may think Zilya and Celaris somehow merged into one entity. So it's not a huge stretch of truth, but *maybe* could result in someone taking the wrong course of action to disable us and give us an advantage?

>>4771146
>>4771168
>>4771198
Okay yeah then I’ll change my vote to
>>Tell him the same thing you've told Aizen
I thought what we told Aizen was something about not knowing what it does

>>4771171
>>4771187
>>4771213
Loud and clear!
But yes, not giving them the true picture will at the very least force them to make educated guesses. It won't fool them completely, but perhaps just enough that it'll matter somewhere down the line.

>>4771213
We had ignored/downplayed Jorogumo's (and by extension Zilya's) abilities at first, but he learned about them anyway. He knows everything we can do at this point, we just fibbed about the source.

Is there anyone who we've told about having two different spirits inside us at this point? I think this may be the one secret we've kept from everyone so far.

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“She is a dear friend of mine,” you state as you put a hand on Lahela’s shoulder. “I was the one who made her like this.”

Kisuke’s reiatsu all but disappears and he whistles. “My! Aren’t you full of surprises!”

“I’m serious,” you reiterate, “it’s all thanks to my zanpakutō.”

Over the time you drink your tea, you explain the situation to him. From how you reached the Rukongai, lived there for half a year, joined the academy mid-semester, quite broadly until you tell about the moment you awakened your zanpakutō, and how Aizen approached you.

“I see. So he did approach you.”

“You expected it?” you raise an eyebrow. Of course, you know he counted on it most likely.

“Maybe. I assumed you’ll show great potential, and Aizen-san is..”

“A gardener?”

Kisuke nods. “And then?”

You continue on, until the eventful camp, then your graduation, and finally how you joined the 5th Division. You tell him how Aizen slowly but surely showed you more and more; the corrupted system of Soul Society, the true nature of hollows, the deep secrets hidden within the C46 complex.

You only briefly mention some of your friends, but any that have hollow influences (such as Asato) or are hollows themselves (such as Drianni and the arrancars of the Wailing Forest), you omit.

“Now he wants me to go to Hueco Mundo. To create more… arrancars for him. I can only assume he means to use them against Soul Society one day.”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head,” Kisuke sighs. “Aizen sure has been up to a bunch in there. I’m curious though,” he says and leans in, “just how is a zanpakutō able to do that, hmm?”

>1/3

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“I don’t know exactly myself,” you say, thinking through the possible ways you could tell him about it. “It’s power is to mediate, well, anything. On top of having two secondary releases. Not bankai though.”

Urahara leans in even closer, now with this creepy and goofy face. “Fascinating! Maybe it’s something we can put to a test?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Petty please? Maybe if I throw in a chance for you to learn bankai really quickly?”

Now that got you thinking. But is such an absurd thing even possible? Doesn’t bankai require decades, if not centuries of practice to achieve?

“Okay. How?”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me more about your zanpakutō.”

You sigh, and tell him the same story you told Aizen, about a single spirit with split personas. The truth is one secret you’ll keep to yourself for as long as possible, especially against these two puppetmasters. You don't think it'll fool them much, but perhaps just enough that one day you'll live because of it.

“Hmmm, bugger.”

“Something wrong?”

“Well, I don’t know if the thing I offered you will work, but it never hurts to try! Not like you could die or anything, haha!”

“Kisuke…”

“What a coincidence though.”

“What is?”

“You going to Hueco Mundo. As it happens, I am in need of somebody to go there too.”

You place the empty cup on the table and tilt your head. “I thought you already spied on that place?”

>2/3

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“I sort of did! Buuuut the person doing the spying is missing,” Kisuke says, counting something on his fingers. “For about three years.”

“W-What the hell? Maybe he’s dead then?”

“Don’t be absurd! Shinji-san’s probably stuck in a wall or something.”

“...Shinji-san? You mean Hirako Shinji, one of the condemned captains?”

“Hoooh? You’ve heard about him?” Kisuke smirks. “Oh right! The archives. Fun things you can find there, that’s for sure!”

“So let me get this straight, you want ME, a THIRD SEAT, to rescue a former CAPTAIN?”

Urahara spreads his arms to the sides and opens up his fan. “Bingo!”

“Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”

“But I’m sure if anyone, it’s you who can do it,” Kisuke says and brings his fan back to cover his mouth. “Surely you won’t be unprotected there.”

Meanwhile, Lahela is just sitting there, partially sweating, no doubt trying to understand what the hell you two are even talking about.

>3/3

>Agree to find him, somebody like that surely could help you figure out things more
>No promises, you will surely have other things to focus on
>Decline, you don’t want to raise suspicion

Also, choose wisely:
>Take his bankai training offer
>Decline the offer

>>4771270
>>Agree to find him, somebody like that surely could help you figure out things more

>>Take his bankai training offer

>>4771270
>>No promises, you don't want to mind-control half of Hueco Mundo to find him.
I mean, we'll do what we can, but if he has no ideas on where to start then we'll never find him. It's like trying to find someone on Earth when you could reasonably search a city for them quickly, but you don't even know what hemisphere they're in.

>Get feedback from Celaris and Zilya on Bankai training. If we're accelerating the schedule this much, it's bound to put a lot of strain on them too.
>If they're not super opposed, yes to bankai training.

>>4771270
>>Agree to find him, somebody like that surely could help you figure out things more
>>Decline the offer
I’m tempted to go for the offer but there’ll definitely be repercusiones

>>4771283
>>4771286
>>4771290
So agree (with maybe some doubt) to finding Shinji, while no consensus / indecision with regards to Urahara's bankai shenanigans.
>Writing

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You think long and hard about it. Hueco Mundo is supposedly just as large as the living realm, right? How the hell are you supposed to find a single person with so much land to cover? Then again, you do have exceptionally good sensory abilities, not to mention Kaishigome’s tracking if you somehow manage to attune it to his reiatsu.

“I’ll do my best to find him, but I REALLY doubt I can find him. Don’t hold your breath and don’t be disappointed when I come back empty-handed.”

“Oh I doubt you’ll come back completely empty-handed, Koharu,” he says with a smug smile.

“Right. I’m going to need your help though. First off, I need to keep the Gotei 13 believing that I’m still here and doing my job.”

“Your friend Akane has grown to be a fine hollow exterminator,” Kisuke notes.

“So I’ve learned. But I need to keep my signal here somehow so they don’t send anybody after me here.”

“Leave it all to me, Koharu-san! It won’t be too hard to fool my own things.”

“...Is that a compliment or an insult at yourself? Nevermind. Thanks. Another thing is, I need a way to Hueco Mundo.”

“Your friend here can’t take you?”

“I’ve never traveled theress before..” Lahela pitches in. “But I thinkss I know how to.”

“Hollows do it by instinct. Where it takes them though, that’s a whole different question.”

“And that’s why I wanted to know if you can do it,” you nod. “That pit you threw me in back then, it was connected to Hueco Mundo somehow, wasn’t it?”

“My, how good of a memory you have!”

“So can you do it or not?”

“There is a kidō spell, yes,” Kisuke nods. “That means you’re pretty much set, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” you sigh, staring at the empty cup in front of you. You kind of wish you could’ve just done this as a normal assignment. Spend time with your friends, deal with the occasional hollow and send plusses to Soul Society, distance yourself from these plots and conspiracies.

“All you have to do is ring the bell!” Kisuke stands up with a cheerful demeanor. “You got time, don’t you? Perhaps time for some.. training?”

“If you’re referring to that bankai training of yours, I can’t give you an answer yet. I… I need to sleep on it.”

“Suit yourself,” he nods and pulls his hat over his eyes. “I’ll be here for when you make a decision.”

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This is where I’ll have to stop this session, I think it’s a good spot too. The shit that had me away earlier drained me almost dry, and I don’t want to drag the quality of the quest down because of it. This time there’ll be updates to the character sheets and social links, as well as some possible omakes. Comments and questions are of course welcome as always.

I’m considering taking a longer break from questing to sort my personal life out and replenish my creative juices. This probably means I won’t be running for the entirety of May, but if so, I’ll come back by the beginning of June. I’ll confirm or refute this in the upcoming week, but I wanted to give you guys a headsup. You can find me in any case on my twitter, or alternatively in the /qtg/ discord or KingofHeart’s discord.

I will try and do a few omakes in return though, so if you have any suggestions, please do post!

The vote for bankai training is also still up in the air, so you can still vote/discuss for that and I’ll take it into consideration.

>>4771344
Thanks for the session Trippy. Wish you well on your break, however long it ends up being

>>4771338
Shame I missed this session but oh well. I say we take the training since we might need it in Hueco Mundo but otherwise keep it hidden for another few more year IC. We already have the Gosei 13 not trusting us and achieving bankai in this short a time period will get us a lot of attention

>>4772395
Well, the method Urahara uses to quick train bankai is by manifesting the Zanpakuto spirit and learning Bankai by defeating them right?
So if we took up his offer, the best situation is that the fountain is what manifests, and at worst one of the immediately recognizable and clearly not amalgamated spirits inside us are manifested instead, but he'd immediately see through the deception about our zanpakuto spirit either way.
I think we should do it the old fashioned way by learning more about Naimen no Daiza.

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Okay, social links updated. I've made a new tab for character sheets as well, but realized that there's nothing to add yet. Do correct me if I missed anything!

I'm also confirming my break for May, which means the next thread is going to be on the first week of June. Either the weekend (4th-6th) or earlier, I'll give precise information on twitter and /qtg/ as we get closer to that point.

Another thing I'm heavily considering is switching to single/double-update per day schedule. While I love sessions, I feel like I'm starting to underdeliver and get tired a lot faster than before. Generally I've done about ~15 posts in total between two days, compared to the start of the quest where I did ~30-40. With daily updating I could write more consistently, keep to the same amount of updates if not more per thread, and give you guys more chances for voting. Thoughts?

If I'd switch over to this, the new thread would be either on 31st of May or 1st of June.

>>4775235
Ahhhhh
Before you go I have to ask
If we chose Unohana just what kind of story hooks would you have gone with involving murder mommy and how badly would it fuck canon?

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>>4779744
That's a pretty difficult question. I only did broad strokes in regards to what would happen with each captain (mostly the ones you considered). Even with Aizen, a lot of stuff I thought of and added along the way by going through the possibilities and filling in details. But, if I dare speculate:

Murder mommy would've beaten both healing kido and ultimately kenjutsu into Koharu and sent as a battle medic, possibly straight away to Afghanistan once the joint efforts kicked in. Zanpakuto-wise there's a high chance she'd figure out about Celaris and Zilya, because she was around when those events took place. Not going to speculate more on that front though, since you technically still have a chance to interact with her and see for yourselves.

Aizen would've continued to mentor Koharu, though more discreetly not to look suspicious. But he definitely wouldn't have been as strong of an influence on Koharu as he is now.

Also, happy 1st of May to all who celebrate it!

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Okay, the thread's reaching the end of its lifespan. Thread #10 will be posted on May 31st, and we'll try 1-2 updates per day, see where that'll get us.

Stay healthy anons and see you at the end of May!

page 11 hype

LAST POST FOR KOHARU’S BIG FAT MONSTER ENERGY TRAP COCK

>>4794233
I finally caught just to say thanks for everything and hope things get better for you